Earlier this week, I spent the day harvesting with our team. We harvested arugula, spinach, lettuce and kale mostly under cloud cover. The sun began to come out as we harvested the radishes, beets and turnips then we stopped for a late lunch. Seated at our picnic table, harvest knives were pushed aside and lunches were unpacked. Our Apprentice, Kristin had brought two mason jars of switchel to share and cups were passed around. She told us that this old farmer's drink is especially quenching on long days in the field. Made with water, ginger, cider vinegar, and molasses, the cool drink was delicious. Centuries ago this was the thirst-quencher of choice for many farmers but it was my first taste and it was incredibly refreshing. Just as refreshing, was the company on harvest day as I enjoyed the opportunity to work alongside our team. Each Apprentice cheerfully contributes in her own way and shares their individual experiences so as to lift the productivity and spirits of our entire farm on a regular basis.

While we ate our lunch, we were conscience of the time. Specifically, how much time remained before share distribution was scheduled to start. There were still more beets and turnips left to harvest and rinse and set up time was fast approaching. Tasks were divided and last bites were hastily taken. We all love pick-up days but the clock seems to speed up once it hits noon. Each week, the team perfects their routine and then new crops are added to the harvest list and suddenly they need to accomplish all that they have in addition to more! Oh, and there's about a hundred cabbage moths hungrily looking for our kale and collards.....

I was talking with one of our town's long time residents last year and he asked how the farm was going. I told him it was going well and we generally joked about the ups and downs such as weather. Looking off to some distant point on the horizon, he asked, "didn't they try and tell you?" I thought we were talking about the rain but then it seemed like we were talking about something else. With "they" as in all those who have tried before to make a life and a living from the earth. "They" as in previous generations who had spent a lifetime trying to work with the cards that mother nature deals, pests who are forever trying to eat their crops and diseases that were constantly threatening to wipe out entire rows. It was a simple but direct question which I initially thought was rhetorical so I just nodded with a smile. "Didn't they try and tell you?" the question was asked a second time this time in earnest. As in weren't you warned about the economic challenges, impossibly long to-do lists and back-braking manual labor? We have been warned. Alongside an entire new generation of farmers who have been warned, we enter into the profession anyway. We are going to give it a shot anyway. Not in spite of, but because of the farmers who have gone before us and given us an example of a way of life that appeals to us (for some crazy reason). A large motivational force for us is our children but we are also driven forward by the spirit of ancestors who cheer us on from the other side.

Working on a farm, there are constant reminders of the past. The earth itself offers clues. Arrowheads have been found in the fields. Bits of old brick, glass bottles and pieces of oyster shell that was once put on the field by Kevin's Grandfather to help balance the soil pH. Adding to that in more recent history, rocks that bear the marks of the blades of the tiller driven over the fields by Kevin and his father. It's so exciting to join the ranks of stewards of this little piece of land. A role we recognize as temporary and one that we take very seriously. We are incredibly grateful that these last remaining acres of the farm have been preserved and we are working hard to make it a success. As a newcomer to farming, that cup of switchel was particular sweet. To me, it was like a toast to life on a farm and a sip of the past. Kristin, thank you for sharing!

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This blog is about our small family farm and homestead located in Central New Jersey. We grow for our own table but we also grow for the tables of our families, friends and neighbors through our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.